Today is indeed a glorious day for those who still hang on to the hopes of a certain marsupial on a jetpack and a purple-haired female djinn make a comeback in one form or another. I speak of course about Sparkster and Shantae, both of them starring in their respective 2D platform action games with their own unique innovations.

First up is 1up’s reveal of Rocket Knight for the XBLA, PC and PSN as a downloadable game. Nope, it’s not “Rocket Knight Adventures”, just Rocket Knight. After being absent for 15 years, Konami producer Tomm Hulett felt it was right to bring him back for a 2010 release date. Why him, you may ask? To quote the article:

“The funny thing about Rocket Knight is that when you look for information on the Internet — if you can find it — you never see anything bad about him,” says Konami producer Tomm Hulett. “The people who played the games and remember Sparkster really love him.”

No argument here. There’s a lot of good things to be said about strapping an anthropomorphic opossum with armor and a jetpack and having him careening all over the stage fighting bosses of varying degrees of creativity. The game is being developed by Climax Studios a.k.a the same people behind Silent Hill: Origins and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

Last and certainly not least is Shantae: Risky’s Revenge for the DSiWare. Announced in this month’s Nintendo Power, the game will be released as three episodic sequels and will be coming out later this year. The original game on the Game Boy color was critically acclaimed, but what about its proposed sequel seven years ago? Well, WayForward couldn’t find a publisher for Shantae on the Game Boy Advance, so they’re stuck doing the odd job here and there. Finally with the Nintendo DSi Shop where developers can just deliver games to gamers, there’s no need for such restrictions.

So what are Shantae’s powers, you may ask? Apart from using her ponytail as a weapon, she also bellydances and in turn transform into different forms that aid her in her Metroidvania-style quest. Anyone who’s at least fortunate enough to play the game back then will love this bit of good news.